Summative assessment

Summative assessment is what most obviously comes to mind in relation to 'assessment'. It is "the type of assessment that typically comes at the end of a module or section of learning and awards the learner with a final mark or grade for that section. The information about the learner is often used by third parties to inform decisions about the learner's abilities." (Fry et all, p.511)
Summative assessment tends to "define what students regard as important, how they spend their time and how they come to see themselves as students and then as graduates" (Brown et al 1997). It is therefore vital that summative assessment methods are aligned with the intented learning outcomes of the course.

Summative assessment can be both quantitative and qualitative. In contrast to formative assessment, the main roles of summative assessment in relation to the QAA code of practice are
Measurement, Standardisation and Certification. (QAA 2006:4) The QAA also provides six basic principles of assessment in terms of marking and grading. These should apply to any summative assessment use in virtual learning environments.

1. Consistency - marking and grading is appropriate and comparable across departments and faculties, through institutional guidance.
   
2. reliability - two or more markers would assign the same mark to a piece of work.
3. Validity - marking measures what it is supposed to measure.
   
4. Levelness - appropriate learning outcomes for level of qualification.
5. Transparency - aligned with perceptions of fairness, assessment criteria and marking schemes are open and available, tasks are published in good time, and there is a fair complaints procedure.
   
6. Inclusivity - able to make reasonable adjustments in assessing students with disabilities.
   

The following is from Biggs 2002
Assessment modes: (like to assess)

Prose type:
Essay exam (rote, question spoting, speed structuring)
Open book (as for exam, but less memory, coverage)
Assignment (read widely, interrelate, organise, apply, copy)

Quantitaitive/objective
Multiple choice test (recognition, strategy, comprehension, coverage)
ordered outcome (hierarchies of understanding)

Practical
Practicum (skills needed in real life)
seminar, presentation (communication skills)
posters (concentration on relevance, application, design)
interviewing (responding interactively)
critical incidents (reflection, application, sense of relevance)
project (application, research skills)
reflective journal (research, application, sense of relevance)
case study, problems (application, professional skills)
Portfolio (reflection, creativity, unintended outcomes)

Rapid
Concept maps (converage, relationships)
Venn diagramms (relationships)
Three minute essay (level of understnaidng, sense of relevance)
gobbets (realising the importance of significant detail)
short answer (recall units of information, coverage)
letter to a friend (holistic understanding, application, reflection).